Marie Salamagne and Jean Phillipe Clermont of Atelier des Ors photo Atelier des Ors©
The search for happiness, a universal and timeless theme in art and music, is the subject of Atelier des Ors new White Collection: Nuda Veritas, Crépuscule des Âmes and Choeur des Anges. The perfumes in the White series, brought to us by creative director Jean-Philippe Clermont and perfumer Marie Salamagne, express three very different aspects of this quest. Each scent is like vignette, related to and inspired by the Beethoven Frieze of Gustav Klimt (1902), each a discreet fragrant moment reflecting humanity's search for joy.
Street artist Dcypher interprets Beethoven Frieze©
The first in the series, Atelier Des Ors Nuda Veritas, The Naked Truth is, for me, a formulation of possibilities, an expression of ethereal happiness as manifested in the elegant beauty of an open, unfurnished room or the ever-changing patterns of light and shadow reflecting from freshly painted walls. The white canvas of Nuda Veritas interacts with the colors of my personal chemistry to create a subtle veil of exquisite blooming citrus and a delicate jasmine. As a painter I liken the effects of Nuda Veritas to the use of transparent Zinc Oxide acrylic (PW4), a cool translucent white glaze of scent that floats in the air close to my skin.
The Beethoven Frieze – Gustav Klimt©
Clean, slightly crisp and almost spiritual in effect, Nuda Veritas opens like an invigorating rush of cool, wet, bergamot cologne drifting on a breeze of orange blossoms. This refreshing, moist, misty introduction dries and warms after about an hour to a creamy, floral bouquet of jasmine, osmanthus and Tahitian gardenia. The effect is akin to yet another white pigment – the smooth liquid Titan Buff (PW6:1). Despite the waxen white flowers, Atelier Des Ors Nuda Veritas is never heavy, but retains, through its twelve to fourteen hour life on skin, an airy, gossamer impression of orange groves in bloom, finished and varnished with a spicy combination of tagetes, musk and oakmoss. Notes: Bergamot, Transluzone, orange flower petals, Jasmine Sambac, jasmine absolute from China, osmanthus absolute, tiare flower, patchouli, tagetes absolute, ambroxan, musk and oakmoss.
Street artist Dcypher interprets Beethoven Frieze©
Atelier Des Ors Crépuscule des Âmes (Twilight Of The Souls) offers me an embodied experience of dusky, smoky twilight hours, animalic sensuality and a glimmer of the mysterious willow-o-the-wisp. The very first spritz suggests the use of bright Titanium White (PW6), incarnating and giving substance to airy orange citrus and sweet spices. This slightly opaque effect quickly blends into the richness of Dark Raw Sienna, contrasting with a Dioxazine Purple haze of camphoracious hyssop and the foreboding darkness of Midnight Blue.
The Beethoven Frieze – Gustav Klimt©
In moments the blatant carnality of hyraceum, shrouded in incense, ushers me into a world of swirling spirits, sparkling with gold leaf and gilded with buoyant embers of clary sage and pimento. As in Nuda Veritas, the development of Atelier Des Ors Crépuscule des Âmes is subtle, flowing smoothly from one olfactory image to another. At about thirty minutes the sweet, dark and fuzzy warmth of Crépuscule des Âmes becomes increasingly translucent as the tartness of mandarin returns to the composition. Crépuscule des Âmes, Twilight of the Souls, haunts me all day and well into the night. As the dawn breaks, hyraceum, the animal spirit of the perfume, finally fades and dissolves into sunlight of bright, white patchouli and an impression of fresh morning air. Notes: Mandarin, cardamom, clary sage, hyssop, incense, pimento berries,hyraceum infusion and patchouli.
Street artist Dcypher interprets Beethoven Frieze©
Nuda Veritas creates an image of honesty and ethereal innocence. Crépuscule des Âmes paints a picture of dark, sweet temptation and seductive spirits. The third scent of the triptych, Atelier Des Ors Chœur des Anges (Choir of Angels) is a radiant and heavenly embrace of fruits and flowers, a semi-gourmand ambrosia suggesting the harmonization of body and spirit. With Atelier Des Ors Chœur des Anges I again visualize a cool veil of transparent Zinc Oxide but also the warmer tones of Unbleached Titanium White (PW6). These variations on white pigment suggest a joyful purity as well as silvery and golden qualities, the bell-like, imagined voices of angels.
The Beethoven Frieze – Gustav Klimt©
Chœur des Anges opens with a palpable juicy blood orange, highlighted with a very polite version of mint-y black currant and the fresh richness of ripe pear. Before long a combination of osmanthus, orange flower and honey, colored with the vegetal sweetness of carrot seed, create what is best described as a "nectar of the gods". After about two hours the voices of the angels begin to fade as Chœur des Anges slowly dries into a base of cedar and amber. The entire heavenly chorus lasts about seven hours on my skin and slightly longer on clothing, finishing with a lingering echo of cedar, osmanthus and honey. Notes: Blood orange, blackcurrant, pear, orange flower absolute, carrot seed absolute, osmanthus, cedar wood, amber and Provencal honey.
Atelier Des Ors Nuda Veritas, Atelier Des Ors Crépuscule des Âmes and Atelier Des Ors Chœur des Anges, express Atelier des Ors' quest for perfection and incarnate, in scent, the joy of artistic inspiration and possibility.
Disclaimer: Many thanks for the generous decants of Atelier Des Ors Nuda Veritas, Atelier Des Ors Crépuscule des Âmes and Atelier Des Ors Chœur des Anges. My opinions are my own.
Gail Gross – Senior Editor
Art Direction: Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief
Thanks to the generosity of Jean-Phillipe Clermont of Atelier des Ors, we have a reader’s choice of a bottle of either Atelier Des Ors Nuda Veritas, Atelier Des Ors Crépuscule des Âmes and Atelier Des Ors Chœur des Anges available for one registered reader in the EU, USA or CANADA (be sure to register or your comment will not count). To be eligible, please leave a comment with what appeals to you about Gail’s reviews of Atelier Des Ors Nuda Veritas, Atelier Des Ors Crépuscule des Âmes and Atelier Des Ors Chœur des Anges and where you live. Also please tell us which you would like to win. Draw closes 5/13/2018
We announce the winners only on our website. So like Cafleurebon and use our Site feed…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.